The present invention relates to an inside pad for a helmet which has a thick platelike cushion member and a bag-like member covering the cushion member like a bag, and a helmet using this inside pad.
Conventionally, as a helmet to be worn by the head of a helmet wearer (to be referred to as a xe2x80x9cwearerxe2x80x9d hereinafter) such as the rider of a motor cycle, a full-face-type helmet is known. Usually, a pair of right and left blockish inside pads for the cheeks are built into the inner surface portion of the cap-shaped head protecting body of the full-face-type helmet. These blockish inside pads for the cheeks are usually attached to the inner surface of an impact-on-the-chin-and-cheek absorbing liner with an adhesive, a tape, recess-projection engagement or the like. The blockish inside pads for the cheeks are usually formed by respectively accommodating thick platelike cushion members made of urethane foam or the like in bag-like members made of a flexible sheet material through their openings and sealing the openings by sewing or the like.
In the above full-face-type helmet, if the thicknesses or sizes of the cushion members of the inside pads for the cheeks are changed in order to change the size and shape of the internal space of the cap-shaped head protecting body, the cap-shaped head protecting body may always be made to precisely fit on the heads of a plurality of wears. In the conventionally known full-face-type helmet described above, however, the cushion members cannot be easily taken out of the bag-like members of the blockish inside pads for the cheeks.
For this reason, blockish inside pads for the cheeks in which the cushion members can be taken out of and put in the bag-like members comparatively easily have also been proposed. Even among these blockish inside pads for the cheeks, one with a simple structure, light weight and large strength, in which the cushion member can be taken out of and put in a bag-like member very easily does not exist.
The present invention is directed to correcting the drawbacks described above of the conventional helmet very effectively with a very simple arrangement.
It is, therefore, the main object of the present invention to provide an inside pad for a helmet, which has a simple structure and relatively high strength, and in which since a cushion member can easily be taken out of and put in a bag-like member of the inside pad of the helmet, a cushion member with substantially the same or different shape as that of the cushion member taken out of the bag-like member replaces it and is put in the bag-like member, so the old cushion member can be replaced with a new one or the size and shape of the internal space of the head protecting body of the helmet can be changed very easily, and a helmet using this inside pad.
It is another object of the present invention to provide an inside pad for a helmet, in which a holding member and accordingly a bag-like member have higher strengths, and a helmet using this inside pad.
It is still another object of the present invention to provide an inside pad for a helmet, in which not only a bag-like member has a high strength but also a cushion member can be taken out of and put in the bag-like member more easily, and a helmet using this inside pad.
It is still another object of the present invention to provide an inside pad for a helmet, which can be attached to a head protecting body reliably and correctly with a simplified attaching structure, and a helmet using this inside pad.
According to the first aspect, the present invention relates to an inside pad for a helmet, comprising at least one thick platelike cushion member and a bag-like member covering the cushion member like a bag, wherein the bag-like member has a bag main body with an opening, through which the cushion member can be taken out of and accommodated in the bag main body, in one surface thereof, and at least one thin platelike holding member having flexibility at least partly and covering the opening at least partly, the holding member being attached to the bag main body. In this case, the holding member has a thickness of preferably 0.3 mm to 2.5 mm, and more preferably 0.5 mm to 1.8 mm.
According to the first embodiment of the first aspect, the holding member comprises a plurality of holding members, and the plurality of holding members are detachably connected to each other through a connecting mechanism.
According to the second embodiment of the first aspect, the connecting mechanism comprises a recess-projection engaging mechanism with an engaged projection and an engaging hole detachably engageable with the engaged projection, the engaged projection being formed on one certain holding member of the plurality of holding members, and the engaging hole detachably engageable with the engaged projection being formed in another holding member of the plurality of holding members.
According to the third embodiment of the first aspect, the engaging hole is a notched engaging hole.
According to the fourth embodiment of the first aspect, the engaged projection is a male hook.
According to the fifth embodiment of the first aspect, at least one portion of a periphery of the holding member is attached to the bag main body at least at one portion of a periphery of the opening.
According to the sixth embodiment of the first aspect, at least one of the holding members is attached to the bag main body so as to be turnable inside out from one surface to the other surface of the bag main body.
According to the seventh embodiment of the first aspect, the holding member comprises an inner holding member and an outer holding member that are partly overlaid on each other, the engaged projection is formed on the inner holding member, and the engaging hole is formed in the outer holding member.
According to the eighth embodiment of the first aspect, each of the cushion member, the bag-like member, the inner holding member and the outer holding member has a substantially forked shape.
According to the ninth embodiment of the first aspect, the inner holding member is attached to the bag main body such that, after recess-projection engagement of the inner holding member and said outer holding member through the engaged projection and the engaging hole is released and the inner holding member is brought outside the outer holding member, the inner holding member can be turned inside out from one surface to the other surface of the bag main body.
According to the second aspect, the present invention relates to a helmet wherein the inside pad according to the first aspect is built into a head protecting body so as to form at least part of an inner surface portion of the head protecting body.
According to the third aspect, the present invention relates to a helmet wherein the inside pad according to any one of the second to ninth embodiments of the first aspect is built into a head protecting body so as to form at least part of an inner surface portion of the head protecting body, and the engaged projection and/or the engaging hole of the recess-projection engaging mechanism detachably engages with an engaging hole and/or an engaged projection formed on the head protecting body through recess-projection engagement.
According to the fourth aspect, the present invention relates to a helmet wherein the inside pad according to any one of the second to ninth embodiments of the first aspect is built into a head protecting body so as to form at least part of an inner surface portion of the head protecting body, and the engaged projection detachably engages with a female hook formed on an impact absorbing liner of the head protecting body, thereby attaching the inside pad to the impact absorbing liner.
According to the fifth aspect, the present invention relates to a helmet wherein a pair of inside pads each according to the first aspect are built into a head protecting body so as to respectively form a left cheek blockish inside pad and a right cheek blockish inside pad of the head protecting body.
According to the first to fifth aspects described above, the inside pad preferably further has an elongated, thin platelike flexible engaging member attached to the bag-like member, and at least one portion of the engaging member being preferably inserted and supported between an outer shell and an impact absorbing liner.
The above and other objects, features and advantages of this invention will become readily apparent from the following detailed description thereof which is to be read in connection with the accompanying drawings.